Circle is the community platform to pick if you want paying members on your own domain and billed through your own Stripe account. That control has a price. Circle's own transaction fee (2% on Professional) sits on top of Stripe's processing and Stripe Billing fees, and several limits you'll hit as you grow are paid add-ons. Here's our read of Circle's pricing page and help center, checked October 10, 2026.
What it does well
You keep the payment relationship. Circle's paywalls run through a Stripe account you connect. Its help center says Circle's cut shows up as an "application fee" on each charge in Stripe, and that you can export customers, subscriptions and payments as CSV straight from that Stripe dashboard. Of the community platforms we've compared, that's the strongest ownership position.
Exports are on every plan. Bulk import and export is listed on all four tiers. Member CSVs include name, email, join date, tags, profile fields and email-marketing consent. Paywall subscription and transaction exports arrive as CSV files sent to your admin email.
The entry plan isn't stripped down. Professional includes unlimited members, courses, events, live streams (100 attendees, 10 hours a month), chat, gamification, a custom domain, Zapier and Circle's iOS, Android and desktop apps.
Moving in is supported. Circle advertises a free payment migration service that transfers active subscriptions and payment details from your old platform, "if eligible". There's a 14-day trial with no card and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Where it falls short
Fees stack. Every paywall payment pays Circle and Stripe. Circle's own example for a Business-plan subscription is 1% (Circle) + 2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe Payments) + 0.7% (Stripe Billing). On Professional, the Circle portion is 2%.
The useful plumbing sits higher up. API access, workflows and removing Circle branding start on Business. Webhooks and AI agents start on Scale. A fully branded app in the app stores needs Circle Plus, which is quote-only.
Add-ons add up. Extra admins are $10/mo each, moderators and spaces are $20/mo per 10, and live hours are $50/mo per 10 hours. On Professional, branded email notifications cost $40/mo and custom profile fields $49/mo. Email Hub, Circle's email marketing tool, is $99/mo per 10,000 contacts.
Refund through Circle, not Stripe. Circle refunds its fee only when you issue the refund inside Circle. Refund in the Stripe dashboard and you lose it.
Pricing in practice
Professional is $89/mo billed annually or $99 monthly. Business is $199 or $219. Scale is $419 either way. Transaction fees are 2%, 1%, 1% and 0.5% (Circle Plus), always on top of Stripe.
Example (assumptions: 200 members paying $29/month, US cards, Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 plus 0.7% Stripe Billing, monthly plan billing, no add-ons):
- Professional: $0.58 Circle + $1.14 Stripe + $0.20 Billing = $1.92 per charge, so $384.80 in fees plus $99 = $483.80 of $5,800.
- Business: $1.63 per charge, so $326.80 plus $219 = $545.80.
The extra 1% you save on Business only covers the $120 price gap once you sell about $12,000 a month (about $11,000 on annual billing). Below that, stay on Professional unless you need the API or white-labeling.
Who should pick it (and who shouldn't)
Pick Circle if your community is the product, you care about brand and domain, and you want subscriptions sitting in your own Stripe account if you ever leave. Stripe documents a self-serve way to copy customer and payment method data to another Stripe account, which makes a future move more realistic than on a platform that bills members itself.
Skip it if you're still validating an idea on a tight budget, or if you want email, site and funnels in one bill. Whatever you choose, sync every paying member to an email platform you control, such as KitAFFILIATE (affiliate link).
Alternatives worth comparing
- Mighty Networks: similar shape and also uses your own Stripe account, with quizzes built into courses.
- Skool: simpler and cheaper on its Pro plan, but Skool bills members itself and there's no custom domain.
- Kajabi: community plus website, email and funnels, with no platform fee on Kajabi Payments.
- Memberful: memberships on your own site if the community can live elsewhere.
For the full three-way breakdown, read Skool vs Circle vs Kajabi. If you're leaving an all-in-one, see Kajabi alternatives.
SOURCES (CHECKED OCT 10, 2026)
| Claim | Source URL | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Plan prices (annual/monthly), transaction fees 2/1/1/0.5%, limits, add-on prices, feature table (custom domain, courses, Zapier, bulk import/export, apps; API from Business; webhooks from Scale; branded apps on Plus), Email Hub $99/mo per 10k, 14-day trial, 30-day money-back guarantee, payment migration service | https://circle.so/pricing | 2026-10-10 |
| Fees stack: Circle fee shown as Stripe application fee; Stripe from 2.9% + $0.30; Stripe Billing for subscriptions; example 1% + 2.9% + $0.30 + 0.7%; Circle fee refunded only for refunds issued in Circle | https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-setup/paywall-transaction-fees | 2026-10-10 |
| Subscription and transaction CSV exports; export customers, subscriptions and payments from connected Stripe account | https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management/export-member-subscriptions-and-transactions-data | 2026-10-10 |
| Member CSV export fields | https://help.circle.so/p/administration/analytics/export-a-csv-of-your-members | 2026-10-10 |
| Stripe self-serve copy of customer and payment method data between Stripe accounts | https://docs.stripe.com/get-started/data-migrations/pan-copy-self-serve | 2026-10-10 |
| Example math (derived): $29 x 2% = $0.58; 2.9% x $29 + $0.30 = $1.141; 0.7% x $29 = $0.203; x 200 members + plan fee | Derived from the rows above | 2026-10-10 |
| PLAN | PRICE | WHAT YOU GET |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $89 /mo | Billed annually; $99/mo billed monthly. 2% Circle transaction fee plus Stripe fees. 3 admins, 20 spaces. |
| Business | $199 /mo | Billed annually; $219/mo billed monthly. 1% transaction fee. Adds workflows, APIs and removal of Circle branding. |
| Scale | $419 /mo | Same price billed annually or monthly. 1% transaction fee. Adds webhooks, AI agents and higher limits. |
| Circle Plus | Custom | Quote only. 0.5% transaction fee. Fully branded iOS and Android apps. |
| Email Hub add-on | $99 /mo | Per 10,000 contacts, on top of your plan. First 30 days free. |
Creators and coaches running a paid community who want it on their own domain, billed through their own Stripe account, with courses and events in the same place. — and anyone who wants Circle to do the heavy lifting in this category.
Skip it if you want the lowest monthly cost, a branded app without a sales call, or email marketing included in the base price. — if that's a dealbreaker, see every monetization tool we've reviewed.
- How much does Circle cost?
Professional is $89/month billed annually or $99 monthly, Business is $199 or $219, and Scale is $419 either way. Circle Plus is custom-priced. There's a 14-day trial with no card.
- What transaction fees does Circle charge?
2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus. Stripe's processing (from 2.9% + $0.30 in the US) and 0.7% Stripe Billing on subscriptions apply on top, per Circle's help center.
- Can I export my members and subscribers from Circle?
Yes. Bulk export is on every plan. Member CSVs include names, emails and profile fields, paywall subscription and transaction exports come as CSV, and you can export customers and subscriptions from your connected Stripe account.
- Do I own the payment relationship on Circle?
Payments run through a Stripe account you connect, so customer and subscription records sit in your Stripe account. Moving them to another platform depends on what that platform can import.
- Does Circle have a branded mobile app?
Every plan includes Circle's own iOS, Android and desktop apps. A fully branded app under your name in the app stores requires Circle Plus, which is custom-priced.
The best community platform for creators who want their own domain and their own Stripe account, as long as you budget for stacked fees and add-ons.
Editorially reviewed. An editorial evaluation of verified product information, official documentation, pricing and features, informed by Carlos Gil's professional experience. Available demos and screenshots may inform the review; documented product use is required for a hands-on label. Read our review standards.
Editorially reviewed by Carlos Gil. Based on Circle's official pricing page and help center, checked October 10, 2026. Circle pays us nothing and the link to it is a plain link. Links to Kit and LearnWorlds on this page are affiliate links, labeled where they appear, and never affect the score. How we review.
BestCreates is written and edited by Carlos Gil. Every tool is assessed against the same documented framework — the jobs creators hire it for, ease of use, pricing accuracy, support and integrations — and each review states in the open how it was assessed.
LAST UPDATED OCT 10, 2026
SIGNED BY CARLOS GIL · FOUNDER & EDITOR, THE BEST NETWORK · OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY